Customer expectations are ever-rising and are heavily influenced by the easy access to competitor information and consumer reviews via the internet as well as the need to have control in tentative, recession-marred times.  In the book “Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3,000″, author Pete Blackshaw advises companies to embrace and deliver trust, authenticity, transparency, listening, responsiveness and affirmation to customers. Consumer-to-consumer conversations happen at amazing speed.  Social networks, blogs, Twitter, Facebook and video sites scatter customer comments throughout the world faster than we can blink.  Customers expect companies to recognize they are different than other customers and to be treated accordingly. 

The following gives insights into customers’ perception of the service they are receiving and the high value placed on service:

•  77% of the customers surveyed said the service they received stayed the same or got worse in the last few years
•  57% of surveyed customers reported having a recent bad experience (a significant increase from 47% in 2008)
•  Only 33% of those customers said the issue was resolved (20% reported “no answer” from the company!)
•  Of the 33% who received resolution, 30% stopped doing business with that company anyway
•  “Treats me like a valued customer” is one of the top five characteristics customers want when they interact with a company
 

The bottom line and exceptionally good news is that customer service is within each service provider’s control.  Each contact center representative, every sales person, all frontline employees have the choice to be personally accountable to serving each customer in the manner that furthers their personal success as well as their organizations success.  It all starts with a choice.

Not so fast new PhonePRO gal. After joining the PhonePRO team a few months back, I attended a Customer ServicePRO training class taught by Desirae, one of our incredible Trainers. That’s when the wheels started to fall off of my ego train. First order of business in the class: proper greeting. Well, I’ll pay attention, but of course, I know a proper greeting. I’ve been in sales for years, much of it phone sales. What’s that? Wait, what did Desirae just say? Hold on, I need to take some notes.

And so it went through the training day chock full of new strategies that had me sitting up and paying attention.  Everyone understands customer service is not rocket science, but clearly; it requires a well thought out plan and lots of practice to get it right.  Why else would so many be struggling with this “basic” skill set?

Do you have everything figured out like I thought I did? I would love to hear about what strategies are working well for your team. Give me a call so I can show off that greeting……Good morning! PhonePRO. This is Jennifer!

800-888-4893 or jennifer@phonepro.com

If only it were that easy!  But in reality, handling angry, irate or just dissatisfied callers takes a little more finesse than a tuxedo clad bird!  Here are a few tips from our new Customer ServicePLUS course to help when dealing with upset callers:

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1. Refuse to engage in the fight – this isn’t the time to “be right” either in words or voice tone.  Sometimes just not “striking back” might actually disarm the caller and help calm them down.

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2. Avoid the “customer is the enemy” mentality.  No company can survive without customers, so see these calls as an opportunity for Service Recovery and a way to create a customer for life.

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3. Remember your role – you are the Ambassador between the company and the customer.  Your job is to maintain peaceful, friendly relations, so be open, approachable and fair. 

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4. Be sure to demonstrate empathy so the caller knows you care.  Just knowing that someone cares about their problem is one of the quickest ways to diffuse an upset caller.

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5. Remember that customer dissatisfaction occurs when there is a gap between customer expectations (what they WANT) and their experience (what they GET).  So try to discover what happened that upset them, and then bridge that gap.

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6. If all else fails, call in the penguins!  Or better yet, call in the PhonePROs!

Our new Customer ServicePLUS course goes beyond the basics of handling upset or dissatisfied callers.  We’ll explore the reasons people get upset, solutions and techniques for resolving the problem and the importance of the service rep’s mindset in each and every call.  We are proud to offer this course to help your staff “PLUS IT UP!”

Clarks has attributed this award directly to their relationship with PhonePRO and the training they’ve received during our partnership.  We couldn’t be more proud of our affiliation with Clarks and are extremely happy for them in this achievement.  Congratulations!!

I own 2 Tripel Karmeliet Beer Glasses – they are lovely and distinctive, embellished with a fleur de lis design.  One was broken recently, so I looked online for a replacement.  To my joy, I found them on www.TrueBeer.com.  It was pictured next to a bottle of beer, so it looked like the size of the glass that had broken – so I happily placed an order for 3.

When they arrived, I was shocked by how small they were – it looked like someone washed them on “Hot” and threw them in the dryer!  It was a “Mini Me” version of the glasses I owned, so I wasn’t sure whether to keep them or return them.  A few days later, I received an email from TrueBeer asking if I was happy with my purchase, liked the quality, etc.  I thought this was a great opportunity for some feedback, so I wrote:

Hi,

I think your products and service are great, but the glasses I ordered are much smaller than I thought they’d be.  Pictured next to the bottle of beer, they look bigger.  I have one already and it’s about twice the size, which is what I thought I was ordering.  My fault, I should have looked more closely at the specs.

So not thrilled with what I ordered, but happy with your company!

Lisa Raven

To my amazement, I received this reply:

Hello Lisa:

Thank you for your email and feedback.  We are sending you (3) larger glasses today free of charge.  The picture of the beer bottle and glass is out of scale and our mistake.  We are sorry for any confusion this may have caused. 

Thank you for your business.

Cheers,

Otto
Customer Service

My jaw hit the floor at this example of OUTSTANDING Customer Service!  They could have easily read my email, realized I was just providing feedback and not asking for any compensation and just moved on, forgetting all about me and my order.  But they didn’t.  They did what true Customer Service SuperHeroes do – they went above and beyond because they aren’t interested in “OK Service” or an average experience for their customers. 

True Service Heroes like True Beer shoot right past Average into Extraordinary.  And because they did, I am happy to sing their praises to anyone that will listen.  They have created not just a loyal customer, but an advocate – and isn’t that what every company wants?  Marketing can’t buy that – only a culture of true Customer Experience can.  Cheers to you, True Beer – you’re an example to be emulated!

Great customer service is essential in every business, no matter how big or small, and often it begins and ends with a phone call. Even in the digital age the fact is that most companies still interact with your company most often by phone and for many customers, the phone is their ONLY impression. The people answering the phone on the frontline are essentially the “virtual lobby” of your organization. Companies spend a lot of time, money and thought about how to welcome their customers into their physical lobby– it is important that just as much, if not more, attention is paid to the people who make that all important first contact with most of your customers.

How important is the tone of your voice?
There are 3 elements that form face-to-face interactions. They are Body Language, Voice Tone and Word Choices. The ranking order is as follows: Body Language is the most important at 55%, Voice Tone is 38% and Word Choices make up only 7%. So what happens when the interaction takes place over the phone? Body Language, while it doesn’t completely disappear, definitely takes a less important role while Voice Tone skyrockets to 82%!
 

Make Excellent Phone Skills part of your brand!
When your customers call, the experience they have with your frontline staff over the phone reflects your brand and your message. Do your branding and marketing messages implore people to call your company because “our reps will probably sound bored, disinterested and most likely will act like they don’t care that you called?” Of course not! At the same time, if you ask your reps about their customer service and telephone skills they may think they are doing a great job, but until you define that customer experience for them, how will they know how to deliver that experience on a consistent basis?
 

How?   The answer to this question is that you need to provide specific standards and best practices that are well defined, objective and that staff are held accountable to meet and exceed. Here are a few examples of standards that PhonePRO has brought to hundreds of companies over the years:
• A short, consistent greeting to welcome callers and lead the conversation from the start
• Voice Tone must be positive, definitely not negative and not even neutral (monotone.)
• Choose positive words and phrases and avoid negative words such as “can’t, don’t and won’t.”
• Actively listen to your callers, no interrupting!
 

Of all of these standards, it almost always comes down to Voice Tone as the most important that will make or break that first impression with your customers. To illustrate that point, take a look at this video clip of our trainer, Desirae Haynes, talking about this important topic.  Desirae_Voice Tone

In today’s competitive marketplace, Customer Service has become the distinguishing factor between companies.  Knowing that, it is time to carefully consider these questions:
• Are your employees set up to succeed?
• Are they trained, equipped and empowered to resolve customer issues?
• Do certain policies consistently aggravate or abuse customers, making it difficult to do business with your company?

Whether your organization has competitors or not, we know there are consequences for having unhappy, frustrated and angry customers.  The Internet provides an immediate audience for praises and complaints.  Comments posted on social media such as Facebook, Yelp, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter (and new options are popping up all the time) will instantly push a company’s reputation into the global limelight.

Relationships with current and potential customers are at risk when a company’s reputation gets “trashed”.  One of the most common reasons for losing customers is the poor handling of customer complaints.  Distracting thoughts like “I don’t like your voice, I don’t like your attitude and I don’t like YOU!” can impede the process of problem resolution.  If employees are armed for combat, the other side will be too.

Dissatisfied customers are not the enemy.  Research tells us that 96% of customers that don’t get good service don’t complain–they simply go away!  What this means is that when customers complain, they are letting your company know they are unhappy and giving you an opportunity to fix the problem and regain their trust.

To reach a solution, it’s important to stay focused on rational action and avoid emotional distractions.  It helps to focus on WHAT the customer’s needs are and WHAT they are trying to get you to do for them.

Baseball Hall of Famer Yogi Berra once said, “The future isn’t what it used to be.” Why not make the future even better for your customers?  There is a definite payoff. In fact, on average, 56-70% of customers who complain do business with you again when their problems are resolved.  If they feel you acted quickly then up to 96% will do business with you again and even recommend your company’s products or services to others.  Those who may have once been perceived as “the enemy” may actually become some of your company’s greatest allies!   And that can make a world of difference to companies that want to grow and thrive in today’s competitive marketplace!

A Company Culture is defined as “the shared values, beliefs and practices of the company’s employees.”  A company culture of customer service is the #1 way to differentiate your company from your competitors. Firms identified as having a positive company culture outperform their competitors by 200% or more.  I speak with PhonePRO customers every day about their customer service goals and those that have created and nurtured their own Customer Service Culture have these characteristics in common:

1. They have defined their overall Service Philosophy and Core Company Values
2. Their management team is fully committed to cultivating a Customer Service Culture
3. They communicate with their customers and utilize their feedback
4. They recognize the vital link between Employee Satisfaction and the Customer Experience
5. They nurture and feed their company culture so it isn’t just a “flavor of the month”

The first step in creating a customer service culture is to define your Service Philosophy and Core Company Values.  This is a tough one but it is essential to creating your “culture makeover!”  The good news is, once these values are created they will be the foundation for all the other steps so the process will get easier as you go.

According to Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos and author of “Delivering Happiness”, if you have the right company values everything else will fall into place including phenomenal customer service, employee satisfaction and retention, and of course, a positive company culture.  The 10 Core Values at Zappos are:  �
1. Deliver WOW through Service
2. Embrace and Drive Change
3. Create Fun and a Little Weirdness (my favorite!)
4. Be Adventurous, Creative and Open-Minded
5. Pursue Growth and Learning
6. Build Open and Honest Relationships with Communication
7. Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit
8. Do More with Less
9. Be Passionate and Determined
10.Be Humble

So how can you come up with the core values that truly represent the type of company you want to be?  Start by having brainstorming sessions where everyone can contribute to develop values that your company can stand behind.  Then commit to those values, let everyone know what they are and provide specific examples of how to practice them.

One of our core values at PhonePRO is “Team before Self.”  What this means to me is whenever I make a decision at work, I ask myself “is it good for the team, or is it just good for me?”  If the answer is “just me” I know I need to go back to the drawing board.  This isn’t always easy to do but we have made the commitment to this value and we have seen it pay off time and time again.  Here is just one example…

At the end of last year one of our trainers had scheduled a well deserved vacation.  She was looking forward to a relaxing getaway when something happened at work…we got crazy busy!  We had a lot of clients who wanted to do training before the end of the year and of course we wanted to accommodate them if we could.  So Suellen decided to practice “Team before Self” by postponing her trip in order to pitch in and help our clients meet their year-end training goals.  Not only did she still have a great vacation a few weeks later, she also helped our team accomplish our goals for 2011.  Other ways we practice this particular value include pitching in to help each other with projects, answering the phones when they are busy and working late to help a trainer deliver a live webinar for clients in a different time zone.  The words “not my job” are not allowed when practicing Team before Self – rather, it’s more like “all hands on deck!”  

If you have already defined your company’s core values and are practicing them each and every day, Congratulations!  If not, go ahead and get that first brainstorming session scheduled.  A small investment in time will pay big dividends when everyone is working toward the same goal.

I recently spoke with a business owner who told me his main goal for 2012 was to create and cultivate a Customer Service Culture within his organization.  He went as far as to say that delivering outstanding customer service is his top priority in order to grow his company; otherwise he fears it will become stagnant and quite possibly disappear.  Keep in mind that his employees are already delivering good service, so here’s the real question…is just being good no longer good enough?  According to Jim Collins in his book Good to Great, “good is the enemy of great.”

In the best-selling book “Delivering Happiness”, Tony Hsieh describes how excellent customer service has been a key factor in how his company, Zappos.com, has skyrocketed to over $1 billion in gross merchandise sales in less than 10 years.  The ideas in this book go hand-in-hand with a concept that is quickly becoming the #1 goal of many organizations, and that is the idea of a “Customer Service Culture.”

Customer Service has become the #1 differentiator between companies in today’s competitive marketplace.  I speak with our own customers every day about improving their customer service levels and I now hear the term Customer Service Culture almost daily.  When I ask our clients what having a culture of customer service means to them, the answers are limitless.  Some of my favorites are delivering “WOW” service, being the best at what they do and consistently going above and beyond to exceed their customers’ expectations.  My personal favorite is this:  when a customer calls my company, for any reason, we want them to hang up and think to themselves “I am really glad I called!”

This is a big change from the days where customer service was far less important than cutting costs and increasing the bottom line.  Too often, the overused phrase “your call is very important to us” actually now means the exact opposite for people waiting on hold to speak with a customer service representative.  So smart companies now realize creating their own Customer Service Culture ultimately results in increased profits with the added bonuses of happier employees, positive word of mouth, referrals from current customers and an excellent reputation for their company and their brand.

The question is, how can you create and benefit from an intentional customer service culture within your company?  In this 5-part series I will reveal strategies that my most successful clients have used to “deliver happiness” to their customers and employees.

1. Learn how to define your Service Philosophy and Core Company Values
2. The role of management in cultivating a Customer Service Culture
3. How to communicate with your customers and utilize their feedback
4. The important link between Employee Satisfaction and the Customer Experience
5. How to nurture and feed your Customer Service Culture so it isn’t just the “flavor of the month”

This list could go on and on but these are 5 things that are consistently present with our clients that have truly created and cultivated their Culture of Customer Service.  The next question is “how do I begin?” The answer has to do with your service philosophy and core values.  Stay tuned!

Growing up in the Midwest, I was always spellbound by the big summer storms that would roll through. I was fascinated by the tall trees as they whipped back and forth, branches shaking every which way as Mother Nature unleashed her wrath. Occasionally, the force of the storm was too great for an unyielding tree and the entire tree would come crashing down, leaving a tangled mess in the yard. The trees left standing were often tattered and torn, but in the end it was their flexibility that got them through the storm.

Our current economic conditions remind me of watching those storms. Many companies are hunkered down, battening the hatches, bracing themselves and following the rules – yet what is essential during these stormy times is flexibility. Flexibility and adapting to current circumstances is what will leave companies standing long after the economic storm has passed. To that end, when interacting with your customers, do your employees know how to be flexible when following your company’s policies and procedures? Do they know how to balance the needs of both company and customer during these tough economic times?

A recent example: For several years, I have had a quarterly arrangement with an exterminator for pest control in my home (no formal written contract). For a variety of reasons, I opted to skip the 4th quarter treatment. And since it was the middle of a Midwest winter, I didn’t see the value in spraying for bugs when none were around. I called to cancel the visit and was informed that skipping the treatment would subject me to a triple digit reactivation fee as well as a surcharge for the extra material needed for the next visit. Extra material? Reactivation fee? Reactivation of what? To me, this was a simple arrangement where a guy shows up with a container of liquid that he squirts around the baseboards of my home and since it was the dead of winter the frigid temperatures had already taken care of any pesky critters that survived the 3rd quarter treatment. Upon bringing all of this to the attention of the representative, she simply stated that it was policy to charge the fees. Period.

I ended the call without booking the service visit. The rep’s rigidity in enforcing the policy and inability to balance my needs and the company’s needs resulted in the loss my business now and forever. Was this her fault? Perhaps…or maybe it was the result of her real or perceived lack of power to find a solution that would serve us both. Surcharges, cancellation fees and penalties are an accepted way to dissuade customers from abusing a company’s goods and services. But when an employee lacks the knowledge, desire or authority to consider other viable options and simply quotes policy, they may be failing the very company and revenue they are trying to protect. Now more than ever, it’s critical to be flexible and to consider that the potential financial loss of that customer and their future referrals would likely supersede any revenue gained by enforcing rigid policies in the present: In other words, “Don’t step over a dollar to pick up a dime.”

If you want to preserve your current customer base (and who doesn’t?) now may be a good time to assess what authority your reps have to negotiate with your customers. Give them the power to make your customers feel heard and valued. Talk to them – ask them if there are policies that are costing you customers – they’re the ones that will know! And if there are, then take a look at whether the rules can be bent and how far – and then give the reps the power to do it. In these uncertain times, some companies will survive and thrive, some will be tattered and torn and some will crash in a tangled mess. In the end, it’s a company’s flexibility or lack of it that will determine if they stand or fall after the storm.